by Matt Hall, Red Feather Horticulture –
I’m a better gardener than globetrotter, which means that I’m not the best person to take travel tips from. Forgoing “Fodor’s,” I’ve instead spent years poring over gardening books and magazines. One of my favourite topics is the early days of botanical exploration and the cultural history of plant species. So instead of travel tips, I’d like to take a quick trip around the world to the birthplaces of some of our most commonly used garden plants.
Dahlias (Mexico). Dahlia, the quintessential summer bulb, was hybridized from plants found in the high plains of Mexico over 200 years ago. Due to their popularity with gardeners, they now top in at over 57,000 cultivars. Unfortunately, we’re still missing a truly frost-hardy variety.
Hardy Fuchsia (Chile). Almost all species of fuchsia originate from South America and the “parent” species of our most popular hardy hybrids came from Chile and Argentina. A French monk first found fuschia on Haiti and named it after the German herbalist Leonhart Fuchs. Over the years we have changed our pronunciation from what was once “fewk-sia: to the more sonorous version we use today.
Heuchera (Ontario). Coral-bells, the perennial whose foliage has long been brightening up our shade gardens, are usually hybridized with the native species found on much of the east coast. From this, we now have a rainbow of heuchera to choose from. I like using a contrasting dark burgundy and a bright, lemony chartreuse together.
Calla Lilies (South Africa). Calla lilies are a common water plant that can be found between Malawi and the eastern end of South Africa. Although given the Greek word for beautiful (Calla), they are technically not a lily. It’s not known when they were imported to Europe but there are paintings of them from the 1600s. They are great in wet areas of the garden but have to be treated with care as they are poisonous.
Cistus (Spain). These drought-tolerant shrubs are a common sight on both sides of the Western Mediterranean. They’re rapidly gaining popularity in our area due to their deer resistance, as well as their continual blooming during the summer. The rock roses are a fantastic group of plants and one not to miss.
Rhododendron (Nepal). This one would require a bit of a hike into the Himalayas as the national flower of Nepal only grows at elevations over 3,000 feet. In some areas, one can see dozens of species all flowering at the same time. It’s no wonder they caught a botanist’s eye in the 1660s when they were first imported to Britain.
Bottlebrush (Australia). The bottlebrush (or Callistemon) are another group of plants that are rapidly growing in popularity in our area. Their bright fibre-optic like flowers and drought tolerance make them a striking addition to a Mediterranean garden. Grevillia is a similar Australian native that I’d also recommend.
Which brings us back home from our horticultural tour. If you need a hand finding any of these plants, please drop me a line at matt@redfeatherhorticulture.com. I’d love to help.
